The Sporting coach considered this Saturday that FC Porto is slightly “ahead” in the fight for the title of champion of the First Football League, but he assumed that there are three candidates and that the ‘lions’ will be in the fight.
In the first press conference of the season, Rubén Amorim stressed that he “has not yet seen” his rivals in the preseason and that he only knows the results, but he started from that base to include Sporting, Benfica and FC Porto. the fight for the title of national champion.
“Benfica is doing well, they are scoring a lot of goals. FC Porto is FC Porto, it is always a very strong candidate, it is the national champion. I think there are three candidates for the title at the moment, knowing that FC Porto is the champion and, therefore, is the one that comes out a bit ahead”, he commented.
Before, however, the ‘Leonese’ coach had already highlighted that the team is going “into the third year of work” under his orders and that, therefore, he wants to “be very competitive”, assuming that “he will fight for titles”. , mainly in Portugal” and that he wants to “return to the group stage of the Champions League”.
As soon as the championship started, where Sporting was displaced to the grounds of Sporting de Braga, on the first day, and FC Porto, on the third, Amorim admitted that “obviously it is a difficult start to the championship”, but he also stressed that “it could also be very good””.
“This is how we have to see it. We have the ability to beat any team in Portugal, so if we focus on what we have to do in each game, if we think about the second or the third, we will give a good answer. Looking at the calendar, what I have thought is that it could be an excellent start to the championship”, he points out.
For the match against Sporting Braga on Sunday, Amorim revealed that Daniel Bragança (injured) and Neto (suspended) are “the only casualties”, since Ugarte “has also recovered”, as has Adán, who “was He has recovered quickly.” an injury that was feared could sideline him for several weeks.
“Adan is already in the squad. He recovered quickly, did his best to play. He is a special player in that aspect, he pushed a lot to be in the squad, to be an option. That was what happened. He showed all the signs that he was ready to go to the game and that’s why he was called up”, revealed the coach.
Sporting kicks off the 2022/23 season in the I Portuguese Football League on Sunday, with a visit to Sporting Braga, scoring for the first round, at the Braga Municipal Stadium, starting at 6:00 p.m. and refereeing by Fábio Verissimo (AF Leiria).
Source: Observadora
